Terrorists Struggle To Gain Recruits On The Web

The Twitter page for al-Shabab, the radical Islamic group in Somalia that has been branded a terrorist organization by the U.S. Such groups are active in social media, but have not attracted many recruits.

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Originally published on December 29, 2011 2:30 pm

Terrorist groups seemed to be all over the Web in 2011. There were al-Qaida videos on YouTube, Facebook pages by Islamic militants in Somalia and webzines — like Inspire -- produced by al-Qaida affiliates in Yemen.

If there were an award for the best known terrorist music recording in the past couple of years, it would probably go to the Somali militia group al-Shabab for a YouTube video that extolled the virtues of jihad, or holy war.

The Shabab music video caught the attention of U.S. counterterrorism officials, who saw it as dangerous because it was slick and catchy and in English. The video ignited an effort in Washington to figure out how to counter the use of social media among terrorist groups.

What no one is saying, however, is that the effort to use social media sites like Facebook and YouTube, and even Twitter, hasn't been the recruitment boon that terrorist organizations had been hoping for.

Terrorist groups appear to be still working out the kinks in their new media strategy and concerns about terrorists using social media may be overblown.

"The worry in official Washington has been that kids are going to be attracted by its message and that they are going to spontaneously arise and become terrorists," said Will McCants, an analyst at the Center for Naval Analysis. "But we just haven't seen the numbers to suggest that that's true. Before social media, after social media ... it is just a trickle of individuals who get involved in terrorist activities."

McCants says U.S. officials may see it as a larger menace than it actually is — perhaps because they don't use social media on a regular basis.

Tracking Websites

It's easy to track how many people are browsing websites and, on the terrorism front, who is entering jihadi chatrooms and threatening to attack. Counterterrorism experts like McCants say there is no research to indicate that the al-Shabab music video — or any other jihadi social media offering, for that matter — is actually winning over many new recruits.

"Social media is interesting as a new outlet for terrorist groups," McCants said, "but in terms of achieving al-Qaida's goal or the Taliban's goal of creating new recruits ... I think it is a complete disaster."

Bruce Hoffman, a professor and terrorism expert at Georgetown University, agrees to a certain extent. "I don't think anyone is going to be radicalized or mesmerized by this media to pick up a gun or throw a bomb," he said. "But it does provide a very extraordinarily important first step. It certainly serves that purpose."

In other words, while social media may not be turning people into violent jihadists all by itself, it can help that process along.

One of the early players in jihadi social media was a radical Islamic organization called Revolution Muslim. Based in New York, the group's founders claimed that the RevMuslim blog received 1,500 hits a day. Its YouTube channel had some 1,000 subscribers. The group was open about its goals to establish Islamic law in the U.S., destroy Israel and take al-Qaida's messages to the masses.

Revolution Muslim became like a gateway drug for young men, enabling those who might be just tangentially interested in the global jihad to link up with real jihadists in Pakistan and other places.

RevMusim's relative success — a list of its recent members reads like a who's who of American homegrown terrorism suspects — has yet to be repeated by other violent jihadi groups.

Even so, Georgetown's Hoffman says there is a lesson to be learned from all of this: "These jihadi groups have been all over this a lot faster and far more ahead of it than many of their government opponents," he said, "so that it will continue to evolve and they will be able to exploit it even more effectively."

Leads For Law Enforcement

There is one part of government that has learned to exploit the intersection of terrorism and the Web: law enforcement.

The New York Police Department and FBI never shut the Revolution Muslim website down because it provided leads on young men who were inclined toward violent extremism. Now law enforcement can go to Facebook to get the same kind of intelligence.

"I have been very surprised by the number of people who are moving to Facebook who are talking openly about their admiration for al-Qaida," said CNA's McCants. "This can be a great boon for law enforcement because you can watch the flow of propaganda and you can see who is connecting to whom and if they are getting in the orbit of very dangerous people."

Al-Shabab, the Islamist militia that produced that popular music video, now has a Twitter account with thousands of followers. The joke among terrorism experts? About 99 percent of them are journalists and law enforcement.

Copyright 2017 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.

ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST:

From Pakistan to the Web now, where it wasn't hard this year to find a terrorist group. There were al-Qaida videos on YouTube, Facebook pages by Islamic militants in Somalia, and webzines by al-Qaida affiliates. But NPR's Dina Temple-Raston reports that terrorist groups have not quite figured out how to use social media to their advantage.

DINA TEMPLE-RASTON, BYLINE: If there were an award for the best-known terrorist music recording, it'd probably go to the Somali group al-Shabab for this YouTube video.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "BLOW BY BLOW ")

TEMPLE-RASTON: This tune became so popular, it was actually covered by a number of jihadis, who added hip-hop beats and rap lyrics to it.

(SOUNDBITE OF YOUTUBE VIDEO, "BLOW BY BLOW ")

TEMPLE-RASTON: U.S. counterterrorism officials saw it differently. They thought it was dangerous because it was slick, catchy - and in English.

WILL MCCANTS: The worry is that this, you know - kids are going to be attracted by its message, and that they're going to spontaneously arise and become terrorists. But we just have not seen the numbers to suggest that that's true.

TEMPLE-RASTON: That's Will McCants, an analyst at the Center for Naval Analysis. And he says all the official concern about terrorists and social media may be overblown.

MCCANTS: Before social media, after social media - it is just a trickle of individuals who get involved in terrorist activities.

TEMPLE-RASTON: U.S. officials, perhaps because they don't use social media, may see it as a larger menace than it is. On the Internet, it's easy to track how many people are browsing websites, who is entering jihadi chat rooms, and even where they live. McCants says there is no research to indicate that the al-Shabab music video - or any other jihadi social media offering - is actually winning over new recruits.

MCCANTS: Social media is interesting as a new outlet for terrorist groups. In terms of, you know, achieving al-Qaida's goal or the Taliban's goal of creating new recruits, I think it's a complete disaster.

BRUCE HOFFMAN: I don't think anyone is going to be necessarily radicalized or mesmerized by this media to pick up a gun or to throw a bomb.

HOFFMAN: But as a very extraordinarily important first step, it certainly serves that purpose.

TEMPLE-RASTON: In other words, while social media may not be turning people into violent jihadis all by itself, it can help that process along. Hoffman says there's another important lesson to take away from all of this: These terrorist groups seem to understand how to use social media better than governments do.

HOFFMAN: They've really been all over this a lot faster and a lot - far more ahead of it than many of their government opponents, so that it will continue to evolve as a means that at some point, they will - at least, I believe their intention is they'll be able to exploit it even more effectively.

TEMPLE-RASTON: There is one part of government that has learned to exploit the intersection of terrorism and the Web: law enforcement. An early entry into the jihadi social media world was a New York-based group called Revolution Muslim. RevMuslim started a blog, which among other things extolled the virtues of al-Qaida, and praised the 9/11 attacks. The New York Police Department and FBI never shut down the website because it provided leads on young men who were inclined toward violent extremism. Now, law enforcement can go to Facebook to provide the same kind of intelligence.

MCCANTS: I have been very surprised at the number of people who are moving to Facebook, and talking openly about their admiration for al-Qaida.

TEMPLE-RASTON: Again, Will McCants.

MCCANTS: This can be a great boon for law enforcement because you can watch the flow of propaganda, and you can see who is connecting to whom and if they are getting in the orbit of very dangerous people.

TEMPLE-RASTON: Al-Shabab, the Islamic militia that produced the music video, now has a Twitter account with thousands of followers. The joke among terrorism experts: About 99 percent of them are journalists and law enforcement.